An Investment that Pays Off
For every $1 invested in Healthy Families America, communities get a return of $1.43, and even greater benefits ($3.16) for families involved with Child Welfare
Both Taxpayers and Families Benefit from Healthy Families America
Here’s How:
Parents
Children
Communities
These benefits mean that, for every $1 invested in Healthy Families America, communities get a return of $1.43, and even greater benefits ($3.16) for families involved with Child Welfare
Taxpayers
Understanding Return on Investment (ROI)
A recent study estimates HFA’s ROI at $1.43.2 This means that every $1 dollar spent on HFA produces an estimated $1.43 in benefits for families and society. In other words, HFA produces more benefits than the cost of providing the services. For some families, ROI is even higher.
A 7-year study found an ROI of $3.16 for families involved with Child Welfare.
ROI is the ratio of service cost to monetizable benefits. The analysis accounts for program cost, outcomes, and research evidence linking those outcomes to later costs and benefits over the lifespan.
For example, HFA children experience early school success, reducing the need for special education and making it more likely that they will graduate, earn a higher income, and contribute more tax dollars as adults. Savings from special education, plus the increased tax revenue when children grow up, help to recoup the money spent on the service.
ROI only looks at outcomes that are tied to a specific cost, such as educational success, foster care, public assistance, or medical care. Many valuable outcomes don’t have a monetary value, such as improved parent-child interaction. Others include positive parenting skills, self-efficacy, social support, reduced parenting stress, and more. It’s important to remember there are more benefits from HFA than what is measured with ROI. In addition, cost-benefit analysis is an evolving science, and estimates can change as new data emerges.
Research demonstrates HFA’s positive return on investment, with substantial benefits for families and society as a whole. HFA shows impacts in all eight domains examined by the Home Visiting Evidence of Effectiveness (HomVEE) review for the MIECHV program.3
Healthy Families America®(HFA) is the nationally-recognized, evidence-based home visiting program of Prevent Child Abuse America®. HFA focuses on building nurturing, safe and secure relationships between parent and child to maximize opportunities for all children –and parents–to reach their full potential.
1 DuMont, K., Kirkland, K., Mitchell-Herzfeld, S., Ehrhard-Dietzel, S., Rodriguez, M. L., Lee, E., Layne, C., & Greene, R. (2010). A randomized trial of Healthy Families New York (HFNY): Does home visiting prevent child maltreatment? Washington, DC: National Institute of Justice.
2 Washington State Institute for Public Policy (2019, December). Benefit-Cost Results: Healthy Families America. Olympia, WA: Author. Accessed online 7/21/2020.
3 Healthy Families America: Evidence of Effectiveness. Chicago IL: Prevent Child Abuse America.
Want to contact us?
Interested in learning more about our home visiting programs or helping transform childhoods and communities? Get in touch—we’ll respond as quickly as we can.